Reflections 4/3/08

Here's an opportunity to add final thoughts about our experiences - even if you intend to keep following the blog as subsequent groups of teachers engage with this powerful text. If you read this before the session later today please do not add a comment. We'll do that together with two prompts...

1. Please add a comment that relates to a questions like:
-What were one or two key themes that emerged?
-What unexpected outcomes showed up in your own classroom as a result of our blog group?
-How has this experience changed an aspect of your classroom or teaching? Your beliefs about learning? Your outlook on success for our students?
-What do you disagree with, or find to be overstated? What was ignored?
2. Also include a comment to answer the question:
-How was this process/experience for me as professional learning?

If you were unable to attend the session on 4/3/08 please add your comment in the next couple of days so I can complete the Act 48 process on MLP. I've really enjoyed your thoughts and questions. I look forward to sharing in this kind of learning again. Feel free to let me know about any books you think would fit well in this format of book study...Dave

While We Were Blogging...

I have a PDF file that I'll distribute later today, but I wanted to create a short post with the URL for the article I'm going to reference. While we were doing our book study online the Indian-owned, Tata Motor Company purchased Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford Motor Company for $2.3B!
This information on it's own reaffirms the Asia, Abundance, Automation principle Pink mentions early in the book - but what really makes it interesting is Tata's notoriety prior to the deal. They have introduces a $2,500 car in the Indian market.
Read more about the whole thing at http://tinyurl.com/yr6log Even though the Tata is not planned to sell in the US there's no doubt that some righ-brained thinking is needed to offset the impact of this trend.

Finding Meaning

The older I get I find myself enjoying more non-fiction books. Maybe its the way I connect to a real issue or idea or maybe I am finding them to be more meaningful. I just finished reading "A whole new mind" last night and after reading the chapter "Meaning" the light bulbs in my head were going on like fireworks. A very dear and close friend of mine became seriously ill with a life threatening virus a little over two weeks ago. Jeanne is a strong and healthy 36 year old, stay at home mother to four young boys. She suddenly came down with a form of strep that attacks your muscles. I got the phone call while I was at work and immediately rushed to the hospital. During the eight hours we waited to hear if she was going to make it I found myself asking the questions why and how. How was her husband going to deal with four boys? All the horrible thoughts went through my mind. I went home to my four children scared and desperate. All I could think of was that I was home with my kids an Jeanne was not. I do consider myself a spiritual person but I never realized how much I needed spirituality until that moment. Jeanne pulled through and her operation was successful. Every day she gets better. She lost most of her muscles in her right leg and now she is learning to walk again. Before this happened Jeanne did not consider herself to be spiritual but now she thanks God everyday and is looking at her life very differently. I have spent hours at the hospital talking with her and listening to her speak of appreciating the small stuff. I found myself doing the same things. Pink's chapter really hit home for me, the timing could not have been more perfect. It really makes sense. We need spirituality for many reasons and it should not take a life and death situation for us to realize it. I would like to see more companies grasp the concept of spirituality; people finding meaning in their jobs, home life and other aspects. Children learn from what they see and from what they are exposed to. I would love to see my students finding meaning and appreciation with life! My students are aware of the situation with Jeanne. Everyday at the start of class one or more of them will ask how she is doing and how are her kids.....maybe they are already on the path to finding meaning.

Sorry this blog was so long but it is so fresh in my mind and I related to this chapter/book so much.